Let Me Love You
by musicofthenight32
Summary: Gabriella loves Ryan, and Ryan loves Gabriella back. Right? A Ryella story...
1. Chapter 1

Gabriella Montez rushed down the hall towards her first period class. She had missed homeroom because her mom's car had broken down on the way and they were forced to wait until the repair man had come and said it was not fixable, so he gave them a ride and now she was late. She had gotten her things out of her locker and was now trying to not run to her chemistry class before the final bell rang.

Gabriella was just reaching the door when suddenly it opened and she found herself slamming into another person. Blushing furiously, she hastened to gather all of her stuff and then hoped that she could rush into the room without any big to do, but she suddenly found another pair of hands picking up her books along with her own.

As she was starting to get up, the hands were wrapped around her's and she was pulled up to her feet. "Um, thank you, I, um" Gabriella started but glanced up and saw a pair of ocean blue eyes and perfect pink lips giving her a slight smirk.

Her heart fluttered and she thought she might throw-up. _Oh my God! It's him! It's really him! I cannot believe this ! I am such a klutz!_

"Are you OK?" He asked, still giving her that coy smirk. She nodded, still hoping against hope that she wouldn't throw up all over him and embarress herself even more.

"Alright see you in there then..." He replied then opened the door up for her.

"Right, thank you...Ryan..."

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"I was completely mortified! I mean, come on, wouldn't you be mortified!" Gabriella asked desperately to Kelsi on their way to gym.

"Well, yes, just not with Ryan, you know." Gabriella nodded. "And besides, it's Ryan! He's a sweetheart, there is no need to be nervous around him!"

Gabriella was still not that convinced about anything, but she smiled anyway and they quickly rushed into the locker room. During gym, they were all paired off to work on their floor hockey skills.

"Ok Guys, here we go: Bolton, Evans, Sharpay. Neilson, Danforth. Cross, Cox. Evans, Ryan, Montez..." Coach Bolton continued on and on but Gabriella stopped listening when he called off Ryan's name next to her own.

_Oh my God! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this!_ She thought as she caught Ryan's eyes from across the room, he smiled quickly at her and bounded over to grab them sticks and a ball. "Alright have you ever played hockey before?" He asked once they were in their own corner and were settled in.

"Um, no...have you?" He nodded at her and gave her a heart wrenching grin. He passed the ball slowly to her and she tried to pass it back but totally missed and tripped over her stick.

She blushed but after she heard his contagious laugh, she started to giggle as well. He held out his stick and gestured for her to grab it and she lifted her up using his ample muscle. "Ok, lets try that again..." He stated then sent the ball gently towards her.

After multiple attempts she finally hit it back at him...and hit him in the stomach. Gabriella gasped and rushed over to him. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright! I am so so so sorry!" She exclaimed, horrified.

Ryan, though still clutching his stomach, turned up towards her and flashed a half grin half grimace. Just then the bell rang and she jumped in surprise, and onto Ryan's foot. Gabriella was practically in tears of mortification.

Ryan slowly sat down and took his shoe off. Gabriella leaned down next to him so that she was just centimeters from his face.

"Ry, I am really sorry. Can I help at all?" "I think you've helped enough." He replied good naturedly then hauled himself to his feet.

She handed him his shoe and when their hands brushed she gasped.

"I, um, half to go!" She said hurridly then rushed out of the gym with her head spinning and her heart thumping away.

**Sorry about it being so short, but I am not sure about this story or not. Let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Gabriella had Troy over so she could help him with his algebra homework. "Ok, now factor it out...then move that over and solve for X and you have..."

Troy quickly did what she said then furrowed his brow at the paper. "X equals -4..." He half stated half asked hopefully.

Gabriella smiled at him. "You've got it."

Troy sighed in relief and closed his book. "Thank God!"

They were sitting on the floor of Gabriella's room and Troy flopped over onto his back and put his hands behind his head. Closing his eyes he hummed happily. "You're in a good mood tonight." Gabriella observed.

Still with his eyes closed, he smiled at her. "Yeah, well let's think:I finally get my math homework, I'm here with you, and I was hoping that you would go to the movies or something with me this weekend." He replied, blushing slightly. Gabriella inwardly groaned, she had hoped to hang at home all weekend and try not to think about Ryan.

_Girl, you don't love Ryan! You love Troy! Troy, Troy, Troy, Ryan! No Troy!_ Her mind screamed at her.

"Oh, um, sure..." She said hesitantly, wishing that she didn't have to lie to her boyfriend. Troy sat up and hugged her quickly. "Awesome! So I guess we could go on Friday night, after practices, and catch like a 7:30-8-ish flick. Or we could have dinner beforehand so we could..."

Troy continued blabbering in the background, but Gabriella stopped listening. She was feeling up with dread about this weekend, which she normally didn't do, and she was trying to figure out what her feelings were when suddenly she noticed Troy wasn't talking.

"Is that OK with you?" Troy asked for what seemed to be the second time.

"What? Oh yeah! Sure." Gabriella responded quickly, hoping to make up for not listening to him.

He smiled lightly at her then kissed her softly on the cheek. "I guess I should head home, see you tomorrow though!"

"Bye Troy..." Gabriella called after him absently.

_What on earth am I thinking? Do I like Ryan? No, don't be ridiculous, I like Troy. But, why am I so off around Ryan...I am so confused!_ Gabriella's head was spinning around and around with a million thoughts like that and she had no idea what to do.

She collapsed back onto her bed and tried to relax her brain. _Yeah, like I can relax right now..._ She thought wearily then closed her eyes and started to count textbooks.

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After school and a few hours of voice and dance lessons, Ryan finally walked into his house, with Sharpay in the lead. She sighed dramatically then hunkered down onto the couch with her laptop.

Ryan bounded up the steps and headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower before his mother got home. While in the shower, he couldn't help but think about the odd behavior of Gabriella that day. _She's never acted like that before...I wonder what's up. Oh well, probably some girly thing that I wouldn't understand..._

He jumped out and grabbed a towel then made his way down to his room. Ryan pulled on a pair of old jeans and a long-sleeve shirt then turned on his computer.

After finishing his homework, he moved over to the file that he labeled 'Term Papers.' It really was his journal sort of thing, that he had to keep hidden from Sharpay. He admits that he does have a slight crush on Gabriella, but almost all the guys in the school do, and it's not like she liked him back or anything.

_ Why would she! Gabriella has Troy! She doesn't need someone like him in her life... _He quickly typed in all of his thoughts on what had happened that day then rushed downstairs, he had forgotten to feed his dog...again...

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The next day, Gabriella was on time and she meadered through the crowds of students to her locker. Suddenly, Kelsi appeared at her side, and Gabriella jumped and gave out a short shriek of surprise.

"Oh my gosh! Yesterday I was paired of with Chad and he asked if I would want to like hangout sometime! Isn't that great!" Kelsi asked dreamily/excitedly and leaned back against the locked next to Gabriella's. "Yeah, that's awesome! Taylor won't be very happy though, now will she?"

Kelsi's smile faltered a little but she shrugged. "They were like the worst couple anyway, and she left him! So I don't really care what she thinks about it!" She replied indignantly, then sighed.

"Ok that was mean, but she really did leave him you know." Gabriella nodded absently then she and Kelsi walked to homeroom together. Well, not really, because Kelsi and Gabriella were in different rooms. So they bade goodbye to each other at Ms. Darbus' door then Gabriella walked in, keeping her head down so she wouldn't have to catch anyone's eyes.

While Ms. Darbus was ranting about some theatre conspiracy or another, Gabriella couldn't keep her eyes off of Ryan. Now, he wasn't really doing anything, he was just sitting, doodling on his notebook. But she couln't help but admire the slight muscles and veins that were in his forearms, and was mesmerized by the way his skin moved so perfectly with him.

The bell rang and startled her out of her enchantment, so she briskly walked to the door, only to be stopped by Troy. "Hey I was trying to catch your eye this morning, what were you staring at?"

"Oh, I was just zoning out, I'm a little tired."

"Oh...ok.." But before Troy could say anything else, she gave a small wave and rushed off to her math class.

One of the classes that she and Kelsi shared, and also one of the ones that she shared with Ryan...


	3. Chapter 3

During math, Gabriella threw herself into her work so she wouldn't lose her focus. She even ignored Kelsi's persistent notes and tappings on the shoulder. That is, until Kelsi smacked her upper arm with much more force that usual and she practically jumped out of her skin.

"Gabriella!" Kelsi was almost yelling to get her attention. "The bell rang like two minutes ago!"

Gabriella jumped up and snatched her bag from under her desk then ran out of the room calling thank-you to Kelsi over her shoulder. During World Cultures, Troy slipped Gabriella a note.

**Hey, you OK?**

Gabriella quickly printed her note back.

**_Yes, I'm fine, I was just running late this morning...sorry._**

She gave him a sheepish look and he winked at her. But instead of feeling her heart fluttering, she felt nothing, not even a slight shifting of her hair.

**We still on for the movie on Friday?**

**_Of course we are! Why wouldn't we be?_**

**** **Oh, I don't know, it's just you're acting weird is all...**

She turned and smiled at him then focused her attention back on her book, hoping that he would take her response as a 'don't be ridiculous, of course I love you, kind of look' instead of a 'I don't know how I feel about you anymore' look.

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Later that day, Gabriella was behind Ryan in the lunch line and she found herself facing an enormous dilema: She couldn't reach the strawberries.

Groaning in frustration, she decided to just settle for a yogurt, when Ryan suddenly turned around and looked down towards her. He glanced between her and the fridge then arched his eyebrow at her.

"Having some trouble?" He asked with a hint of humor in his voice.

Totally forgetting who he was for a second she nodded. "I can't reach the strawberries! I hate being short!" She replied.

He shook his head, stretched up and pulled her down a container of them.

"Oh, thank you! I-um-you..." She babbled, suddenly realizing who she was talking to and what he had done for her. Gabriella felt a blush warming up her body from her toes.

He chuckled and moved along down the line. She too moved on, but auto-pilot, paying for the food and sitting down at her table with Taylor and Kelsi.

"Hey, what's up?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella mechanically started to put mustard on her fruit. "Gabriella!" She and Kelsi yelled together. Gabriella shited her gaze towards them.

"Sorry, what?"

"What's up, you've been totally out of it for the last few days." "Yeah, what's wrong with you?" They asked, overlapping each other slightly.

"I don't know, I just have been feeling off lately."

"Oh..." They paused waiting for her to elaborate.

"I just don't know, I mean Troy is great, right?" They nodded. "And he's wonderful and everything, but something isn't right..."

"Gabriella, wait, what do you mean?" Taylor asked her in great confusion.

"I mean, I feel like we're growing apart. Like the magic is just wearing off. You know?" Kelsi and Taylor exchanged glances.

"Does this have anything to do with...Ryan?" Kelsi inquired carefully. Taylor raised her eyebrows at Gabriella.

"Ryan Evans? What about Ryan Evans!" She demanded, insulted that Gabriella had withheld information from her.

"Ryan! No, of course not!" Gabriella started but broke off and sighed when she saw the looks they were giving her. "Oh alright, maybe a little bit. It's like he's a new person, ever since the musical! He's lost his goofy clothing and adopted a really nice exterior."

"Gabriella, think for just a minute! It's Ryan! He's just changed his clothing! Relax!" "He grew his hair out too." Kelsi added then cowered under Taylors furious gaze.

"Maybe you're right, it's just some clothes and a bit of hair, I guess I'm just overtired or something." Gabriella let out. But even as Taylor and Kelsi started chattering again, Gabriella couldn't help but feel unconvinced.

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After school, Ryan was walking back up from the track after a long and hard practice. On top of all of his musical obligations, he had also joined the track team that spring. He had never really told anyone before, but he loved to run and he was good at it.

On his way to the car, he noticed a certain petite brunette sitting all alone at a table outside. Puzzled he slowly made his way toward the lone girl until she glanced up and involuntarily smiled at him. He grinned easily back at her while his insides did some odd gymnastics moves.

"Um, hey, Ryan." She spoke, but he hardly heard a word. _Focus Evans, focus! Nonchalance, remembered! Nonchalance..._

"Hey, what are you still doing here?"

"Oh, my mom had to work late, so I'm stuck here until she gets the chance to pick me up." Ryan felt a pang of sympathy and before he could stop himself he crossed the rest of the way towards where she was sitting and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Do you, um, want a ride home? You can call her on the way and let her know that you got a ride." He asked, hoping he sounded casual, which was the polar opposite of how he actually felt.

She glanced from his hand on her shoulder, to his face, and then down at the notebook she had been writing in. After a few moments she nodded and looked up at him.

"Sure, thank you."

Ryan picked up her back pack and ushered her out into the parking lot, to his car. He opened the door for her then threw her stuff in the back and jumped in.

"Sorry about my, um, appearance, I had practice today." He ventured in the silence after a few awkward moments, referring to his shorts and tee shirt, that were soaked with sweat.

"Oh, no worries, I don't mind. Really." She replied with a small giggle.

"Hey Gabriella..." He stated, uneasy again. "Yes?" She asked, looking over at his tousled hair and blue eyes. "I don't really know where your house is..."

She giggled again and then slowly directed him to her street. Upon arrival, he put the car into park then leaped out of the car, grabbing her bag and opened her door, bowing deeply.

"Your fortress, Madame..." He said in a foe British accent.

She giggled, for the third time, and took his outstretched hand. Then he linked her elbow through his and lead her up to her door, where he took her key, unlocked the door then opened it up and bowed her inside.

"You really are one of a kind, Ryan." She said, while trying to stop laughing. He straightened up and strode inside the house and placed her bag down by the door.

"Will you be alright by yourself?" He asked, all traced of his butler/driver demenear gone.

She was touched by the concern in his voice. She nodded. "Yeah, um, thank you. For everything. Do you want to stay for awhile, we could, um, have something to eat, or um, something." She offered, trying _not_ to sound stupid and failing miserably.

"No thank you, my dear, I best be off!" He declined, once again in his accent.

He galantly bowed, then, while still bending down, took her hand and lightly pressed his lips against it. Then tipped his imaginary hat and backed out of the house, closing the door gently behind him.

"Oh my gosh..." She murmured faintly then, humming softly, danced her way up to her room.

Outside, Ryan leaned against his car. "Oh my gosh..." He murmured then slipped into his car and quietly drove home, singing the whole way.


	4. Chapter 4

After Gabriella's fifteen minutes of being a princess, she tried to avoid Ryan at all costs and lavish all of her attention on Troy. The rest of the week seemed to fly by and before she knew it, Friday night was upon her. She rushed home, threw on a more feminine top and a simple black skirt then rushed outside into Troy's car.

"Hey you!" He greeted warmly, and she half-smiled back at him.

He leaned in to kiss her and she subtly backed up. He gave her an odd look then turned his attention back to the task of backing out of her driveway.

Upon arrival at the theatre, Gabriella found one of her hand being encased in Troy's and she smiled uneasily up at him.

"So what do you want to see?"

"Um..." She hadn't really thought about what she wanted to see so she quickly scanned the list of movies that were showing.

"Let's see _RENT_!" She suggested, glad to have foud something she actually wanted to see.

"Ok..." Troy replied, pulling out his wallet and leaving her to go and buy their tickets.

During the movie, Troy, much to her dismay, held her hand again. As Gabriella watched she couldn't help but see herself as Mimi, even though she really wasn't like her. And she also kept seeing Roger as Ryan. Ryan, not Troy...Ryan. Ryan Evans.

_Light My Candle_ came on and Gabriella really lost herself in the chemistry between Roger and Mimi. In fact, she was so mesmerized after the scene, that it took Troy almost the entire scene following it to get her attention. Gabriella started and turned towards him quickly.

"I said, 'Do you want some popcorn?'" She looked at him, really confused, then realized where she was and took a handful from the cup.

At the end of the movie, Gabriella was in tears and Troy was feeling very emotional. She kept thinking about Ryan singing to her while she was dying and how amazing it would feel to have someone care so much about another person.

She pretty much ignored all of Troy's banter as they walked out of the theatre and into the food court. Troy bounded off to get them food and she quickly sat down at the first table she could find. While fiddling with her curls, she surveyed her other dining guests.

Suddenly she felt like she was going to throw-up, or pass out, or both!

Ryan had just walked out of the theatre as well and was looking around for a table. Gabriella felt a small fountain of hope bubble up within her and she was about to stand up and wave when suddenly Ryan turned around and beckoned for someone else.

A blonde someone else.

She felt the fountain inside her dry up into a desert, and she felt an over-powering urge to cry again.

Ryan wrapped his arms around the girl's shoulder and whisper something in her ear. She threw her head back and laughed with him. Gabriella wanted to smash her perfect blonde head into the ground. Ryan suddenly noticed that Gabriella was sitting there and his smile died on his lips.

He lead the girl over to her and cleared his throat. "Hey Gabriella, I-um-this is...Erin." He said shakily.

Gabriella forced a smile onto her face and held out her hand. "Gabriella Montez."

"Erin O'Neil." The girl said affably, shaking Gabriella's hand.

"I don't think I've ever seen you around. Do you go to East High?" Gabriella half asked, half demanded.

"Oh, no, no, no, I'm just here for a few weeks. I really enjoy visiting Ryan!" She shot back, giggling.

Just then, Troy walked up with the food and Gabriella turned towards him. "I'm not so hungry anymore."

She stated then pushed past Ryan and walked out to the car. Troy smiled hurriedly and rushed after Gabriella.

"Hey, what's going on?" He called to her in the parking lot.

"I just want to go home. Please, take me home Troy." She begged and he unlocked it for her.

After a few moments of silence, Troy pulled over and shut the lights off.

"Gabriella, please, no more lies. Tell me what's going on." Troy asked almost desperately.

"Really, it's nothing." Troy slammed his hand down onto the steering wheel and turned towards her. "Gabriella, cut the crap! Just tell me what's going on!"

"No!" Gabriella half screamed and threw herself out of the car.

She ran the rest of the way home and didn't stop until she was back in her room.

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Gabriella slipped off her shoes and went out onto her balcony. She sat down on the swing and curled up into a small ball and groaned. Downstairs, she could hear her mother answering the phone and talking to Troy.

_Please don't come up here, I don't want to talk to him! Please, please, please..._ She thought desperately.

Thankfully her mother told Troy that it was too late for phone calls and told him good night. She smiled in relief then went to rearrange her position and fell off the swing.

Moaning, she pulled herself to her feet and stumbled into her room where she collapsed onto her bed and wept into her pillow.

Gabriella spent a sleepless night rolling around and tangling herself in her sheets, then untangling herself, then getting tangled again then getting angry and throwing the sheets off the bed, then getting cold and pulling them back on again.

She slowly counted down the minutes until 6:45 in the morning, then rolled out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt.

She tiptoed down the steps and left a note for her mom then silently left the house. Gabriella jogged quickly down the road and then paused at the beginning of her destination street.

She slowly but surely made her way towards his house and paused in front of it before slowly making her way towards the back of his house.

Ryan or Troy? Let me know what you think! Thanks! Oh and I don't own RENT or anything else really except Erin, but I don't really own her either so I'm just not an owner of anything. 


	5. Chapter 5

Once Gabriella got around to the back she had to go about finding his window, which took quite awhile. Finally she just picked up a rock and hucked it at the window that looked the most promising.

The light went on.

Gabriella stopped breathing.

A shadow moved across the window.

Gabriella bit her lip.

The window slowly opened.

Gabriella gasped.

A blonde head poked out. But it wasn't the right blonde head.

It was Erin's head!

_Oh my God!_ Gabriella groaned and Erin looked around the yard.

"Hello...is someone out there?" She called sleepily.

Gabriella's hand went over her mouth, she wanted to die.

Another light went on and Gabriella's face went from tinged pink to beet red.

Another blonde head peeked out, this time Sharpay's.

Gabriella felt tears running down her face, half from fatigue, half from embarrassment.

"What's going on?" Sharpay half yelled.

"I don't know, someone threw a rock at my window! Well Ryan's window...but whatever."

Erin replied, sounding more awake. Gabriella closed her eyes in horror.

Then a light downstairs came on and then another and another. The lights were moving through, to the back, where all the action was.

Again, a blonde head came out, followed by a pale body.

Ryan!

_Oh my God! This isn's happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening..._ She chanted in her mind, but sadly, it _was_ happening.

"What on earth is going on out here!" He cried, looking up at Sharpay and Erin.

He stretched over and flipped the switch and the backyard was suddenly flooded with light.

Gabriella was frozen in fright, like a deer in the headlights. All eyes were on her, and she did what anyone else would do.

Run.

She ran out of the yard and back down the street.

"Gabriella?" Ryan called after her, then looked back up at the girls and shrugged.

"Come back inside, Ry, you can call her in a little while." Erin yelled down to him then shut her window, Sharpay nodded and did the same.

_Do I go after her, or not...I guess not, I have no idea where she went. I'll call her..._ Ryan yawned and dragged himself back inside.

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Gabriella ran and was halfway to her house when she stopped.

"I have been running away too much lately, I need to take a stand!" She said to herself, then ran through someone's yard, and then another and another, until she was almost 4 streets over.

She took out her phone and quickly called Troy. "Hello..." He answered sleepily.

"Troy, listen, come outside, fast! I need to talk to you now!" She whispered hurriedly.

"Who are you, to first yell at me and then wake me up not even 12 hours later and demand that I come outside!" He asked furiously.

"Troy, get over yourself. Just come out here, now!" She practically yelled, then hung up.

About 10 minutes later, Troy came out of the house, looking quite unhappy. "What the hell do you want!" He roared quietly.

"Troy, I just want to say, that I am really sorry about tonight, and the last couple of weeks, and what I want to do right now."

Troy looked at her like she was crazy then sighed. "Gabriella, straight up, tell me what's going on." He said wearily.

"Alright, lately I have been feeling really odd. Like different, you know. And it wasn't until really this morning or well last night that it hit me. During RENT, I kept seeing myself with Roger, but Roger wasn't you..." Troy tilted his head and arched his brow.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that, well, um, you, I, we...Oh! I don't love you anymore and I think we should break up!" She yelled the last part and then covered her mouth with her hand.

Troy gazed into her eyes, not saying anything, then nodded. "I expected that, for some reason, and I sort of understand it. I just want to know why..."

Gabriella sighed. "I'm not sure about anything right now, all I know is that I don't feel for you, the way you feel for me." Troy nodded again then walked back into the house and shut the door tightly.

Gabriella smiled sadly, and walked back to her house, where she fell asleep in the sunshine, with one thing on her mind:

Ryan Evans...


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriella spent the rest of the weekend holed up in her house. She had to catch up on sleep, then call Kelsi and Taylor, then do her homework and then she spent all of Sunday lounging about on her couch.

When Monday finally came along, Gabriella trudged her way up the school steps, dreading running into Troy or Ryan. Thankfully she made it to her locker and to homeroom with no sign of either boy, but when she walked all the way into Miss Darbus' Room, Ryan was sitting at his desk talking to Sharpay and Troy was no where to be seen.

She rushed past Ryan, but got her foot caught in his backpack strap and nearly fell, but instead Ryan lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Gabriella couldn't stop shaking, not just because of her fall, but also from the adrenaline that pumped through out her body when Ryan touched her.

"Are you alright?" Ryan asked, looking into her eyes, after he had stood up and disentangled her from his backpack.

Gabriella gave a slight nod and a faint smile and tottered the rest of the way to her seat. Instead of staring at Ryan during homeroom, Gabriella stared at her desk so she wouldn't catch Troy's eye.

At long last, it was time for classes to begin and everyone started shuffling out of the room. Gabriella was almost out of the classroom when someone grabbed her arm and jerked her back. She looked up in surprise and saw Troy standing, gripping her arm.

"Listen, were you serious on Saturday? You really want to break up?" He whispered quickly.

Gabriella nodded, trying to ignore the hurt in his eyes as she did so.

"Alright then." He replied and pushed his way past her and down the hall. Gabriella sighed and was about to walk out again when another voice stopped her.

"Why did you do that!" The voice demanded. It belonged to Sharpay.

Gabriella gulped and turned around again. "Is it really any of your business?" Gabriella asked wearily.

"No, but I can make it my business!" She shot back. Then smiled sweetly and walked slowly towards Gabriella.

"Fine, maybe I'll just go comfort Troy. You obviously never cared about him."

"That is not true! I did care about him! I just don't care about him anymore! Well I do, but not in that sense." Sharpay was clearly enjoying Gabriella's sturggling and finally cut her off.

"Why did you break up with Troy? Did he do something wrong?"

"No, I just don't have an interest in him anymore!" Gabriella huffed out then walked out the door.

"Does this have anything to do with my dear, old brother?" Sharpay called to her.

Gabriella froze and slowly turned back towards a smug Sharpay. "How, why? What?" Gabriella stammered out.

"You better stay away from Ryan, or else I will make your career here at East High a living hell!" Sharpay growled then smiled sweetly. "See you later!" And flounced out of the room.

Gabriella groaned and leaned against the doorway, sliding down to the floor. A few minutes later, Ryan walked in and nearly tripped over Gabriella.

"Hey, I was just coming to look for you. We have health today, and Mr. Desarri says if you don't hurry up you'll be marked down for the term." He told her then pulled her up so that she was practically an inch from his face.

Gabriella could feel her heart swooning, he leaned closer to her and she leaned in as well. Just when their lips were about to touch,he pulled back suddenly, shook his head, took her hand, and finally led her out of the room.

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During Health, they were all assigned a project. And because Ryan and Gabriella were the only two left in the class who didn't have partners, they were paired together.

Gabriella felt sick with apprehension at the daunting task of working with Ryan on a health project! Thankfully, they were given the human brain and pshycology as their topic. After class, Gabriella gathered up all of her nerve and called Ryan back into the room.

"I, um, we should work on the project at some point, like after school or something." She said, trying not to stammer too much.

Ryan gave her a small smile. "Yeah, um I don't think I have track today, and I can tell Sharpay that I can't go to voice or whatever. I don't think she'll mind to much if I say it's schoolwork." He replied, hoping that everything he just said was true.

Gabriella quickly ran through her schedule. "All I have is Scholatic Decathalon stuff, and obviously I can skip it for school."

"What time does your practice end?" He asked then reached over and took the books that she was carrying, then he beckoned for her to walk with him.

"Um around 6. What about you?" She smiled and glanced over at him.

"Since I don't have track, but I still have to go running and I have a voice lesson, not until around 6:30-ish."

"Well, how about you come over after your done and we can start working on it tonight." Ryan agreed then gave her the books back and took off down the hall towards his next class.

Gabriella meandered through the hall way not paying much attention to what classroom she was going to.

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Gabriella spent the rest of the day in a delirious daze of glee. Finally, school was out, but she still had to go do her obligations for the team. She managed to focus her attention on helping with the experiments they were doing and eventually Taylor told everyone to go home and do their homework.

Gabriella rushed home and finished up the remnants of her homework (she had finished most of it during her study period), then leaped into the shower.

She then spent 10 minutes agonizing over what to wear, she didn't want to come on too strong, but she didn't want to look like a slob!

_I have nothing to wear!_ Her mind kept echoing.

Finally she pulled out a pair of cream colored stretch pants and a light blue top and decided that it was casual, yet cute. She brushed out her long locks and put them into two braids, accidentally leaving a few strands down in the front.

She was just finished up her hair when the door bell rang and she rushed downstairs, then paused at the door, biting her lip.

After a few seconds of pure panic, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

**Hey, what do you guys think of this chapter? And any ideas for the next chapter will be appreciated. Thank you for all the feedback! **


	7. Chapter 7

_After a few seconds of pure panic, she took a deep breath and opened the door. _

Sharpay. Sharpay and not Ryan was standing in her doorway, giving her a sinisterly sweet smile.

"Aren't you going to let me in, Gabriella?" Sharpay asked, still super sweet.

Gabriella stepped back then closed the door behind her. "What do you want, Sharpay?"

"I want to know what you think you're doing with Ryan?" Sharpay replied, looking around Gabriella's house with no readable expression on her face.

"Well I was going to work on a health project with him tonight." Gabriella muttered, putting her gaurd up.

"You know, maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you and Ryan do belong together." Sharpay practically whispered.

Gabriella was shocked. "OK Sharpay, what do you want! Here to taunt me more? To ruin my chances with your brother? What? I really want to know!"

Sharpay turned around, with a small flicker of what Gabriella thought was hurt in her eyes. "Listen, Gabs, I talked to Ryan earlier and he seems to like you a bit. So I just wanted to make my dear old brother happy! Is that too much to ask!" Sharpay demanded.

Gabriella quickly shook her head. "Oh and if you hurt him, I hurt you. And stay away from Troy Bolton. Got it?"

Gabriella nodded faintly. "Fabulous! Nice chatting with you!"

Sharpay said cheerily and sauntered out of the house.

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Later that night, Gabriella and Ryan were sitting on her couch with two different laptops, comparing notes on different brain theories. Gabriella stretched then yawned, she was really tired!

Ryan gave her a sly smirk from his end of the couch, then moved over next to her. She either didn't notice, or pretended not to notice, then absently rested her head on his shoulder while she read what he had written.

"That's grammatically incorrect." She said suddenly, pointing to a sentence in the middle paragraph.

"No it's not!" Ryan replied.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Ahuh!"

"nuhuh!"

"Ahuh!"

"Nuhuh!"

Then Ryan turned away from Gabriella and back to his laptop, quickly re-reading the sentence.

"Oh, I guess it it..." He murmured sheepishly.

"HA!" Gabriella was victorious! Gabriella really wanted to lean in and kiss him, but had some restraint and decided to lean farther down on his shoulder, so she was under his chin.

He looked down at her and was about to kiss her forehead when he leaped up and pulled his vibrating phone out.

"Speak...Oh hey...no...I thought you were staying longer...but I don't want you to go...listen Erin, I'll be right over...yeah...ok...bye!"

He quickly conversed, then hung up. "I'm sorry but I have to go sort some things out, how about same time tomorrow at my house?" Ryan said over his shoulder while he gathered up all of his stuff.

"Oh yeah, sure!" Gabriella replied brightly, while inside she was hurt.

"See you later then!" He said, rushing out to his car.

Gabriella dragged herself upstairs into bed, reliving the moment between them that had taken place, before stupid Erin had called. She rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

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Sharpay was shocked when she bumped into Troy in the smoothie line at the mall. She had just come from Gabriella's house, and was now at the mall, hoping to drown her sorrows in material things.

"Oh, sorry." Troy muttered, steadying her on her feet.

"It's alright!" She replied, before she could put up her icyness again.

Troy looked at her in surprise.

"What, no drama?" He asked goodnaturedly.

She gave him a small smile then said: "I don't need to practice my acting on you, now do I?" then turned to walk off but Troy grabbed her arm.

"Do you want to, um, go sit and talk for a little while?" She arched her brow at him then nodded and they set off to find seats.

"So what do you think of Gabriella and Ryan?" Troy asked after a few awkward moments.

"How did you know about them?"

"It was kind of obvious, the way she acted around him. Does Ryan like her back?"

"I'm not sure, he's never said he liked her. Just that he thought she was pretty and really nice."

"Oh, and what do you think?"

"As much as I want to see Ryan happy, I don't want to see him hurt by anyone!"

"Well, okay then. Just asking."

"sorry."

"No problem. Hey, do you want to go for a walk outside or something, I'll walk you home."

"Sure!"

And with that, they abandoned their smoothies and walked out of the mall arm and arm.

_I think I'm going to finish this story up in the next chapter. Please review! Let me know what you think! Please!_


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriella got up and rushed downstairs and out the door. She hurried along the familiar roads and soon found herself at the Evan's home...again. She crept around the house and glanced in one of the windows.

Her jaw dropped. Ryan and Erin were dancing very slowly around the living room and as she was watching them, they began kissing. Gabriella felt tears in her eyes as they stopped moving and Ryan easily lifted Erin up into his arms.

He spun her around and she again threw her head back and laughed. Tears were now streaming down Gabriella's face as she watched them silently sit down on the couch and continue kissing.

She backed away slowly, picked up and rock and hurled it as hard as she could at the window.

Ryan looked through the shattered glass to Gabriella's hurt face, disentangled himself from Erin and walked over to her. He held out his hand but before she could do anything...

she woke up.

Gabriella leapt to her feet and glanced at the clock. 15 minutes had hardly passed. She quickly crawled onto her balconey then jumped down, and took off into a sprint through the woods.

Gabriella tiptoed quickly to the same window she had just visited in her dreams and peeked in. Ryan and Erin were sitting on the couch together, talking. She could barely make out what they were saying, but they weren't inaudible.

"He says I have to come home, but I don't want to leave yet! We've hardly spent any time together! It's not fair!" She sounded close to tears.

"Hey, we have all the time in the world! When does he say you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow!" She said, now in tears.

"How about I call and ask him to let you stay a bit longer."

"I just want to be with you, I mean I see Sharpay more than you. And I love spending time with you!" She choked out, sobbing.

"We'll get through this, ok?"

"Gabriella? What are you doing here?" Gabriella jumped and looked to her side and saw Sharpay standing in the doorway of the back entrance to the house.

"I, um..." Gabriella was at a loss for words.

"Whatever, listen, just come inside, come on! I'll help you!" Sharpay feverishly whispered then pulled Gabriella inside and stuff her into a closet.

Gabriella was really surprised at how nice Sharpay was being and didn't surface from her thoughts until she heard Ryan get up. She pushed the door open a crack and saw him kissing her forehead, before picking her up and carrying her upstairs.

Gabriella was furious! She crawled out of the closet then leaned in the doorway of the hall between the stairs and the living room. Ryan came back down and jumped at the sight of Gabriella standing there.

"Gabriella? what are you doing here?"

"I'll tell you what! You lead people on! You think that you can just toy with a girls heart while being in a relationship with someone else! That is just so typical of men!" Gabriella started ranting while Ryan took a few steps towards her, so that he was only a foot and a half away from her.

"You men think that you can just flounce around being all wonderful without breaking anyones heart, while they're are people who are completely affected by this! What is wrong with you anyway! Do you enjoy being so, so...ugh!" Gabriella now was on a tirade, so Ryan cleared his throat, closed the gap between them and clamping his mouth onto hers.

All of Gabriella's anger seemed to seep out of her, as Ryan kissed her.

_Ryan's kissing me...Ryan's kissing me...Ryan's kissing me..._ Her mind screamed.

She took a step back, breaking off the suction between their lips and closed her eyes. "Gabriella...I'm not sure what you're talking about but I think I have an idea..." Ryan started but was cut off by Erin walking into the room in one of Ryan's T Shirts, rubbing her eyes.

"Everything alright..." She muttered sleepily.

"You!" Gabriella hissed practically pouncing on her, but being stopped by Ryan.

"You have some nerve! Did you know that!" Gabriella continued. "Coming here and stealing men from innocent people!" Erin glanced between Ryan and Gabriella then realization seemed to strike her.

"OH! You're Gabriella!" She squealed. "Oh my gosh, Ryan has told me so much about you! Like about your hair, and eyes, and lips and everything!" She gushed on and on, while Ryan blushed deeply.

Sharpay walked in, wearing a pink tank top and white sweat pants. "What are you all doing?" She asked, mocking confusion.

Erin jumped in a half circle and grabbed Sharpay's arm. "That's _the_ Gabriella!" She practically screamed.

"Yeah... that's her." Sharpay replied in an almost bored voice.

"What on earth is going on!" Gabriella burst out suddenly. "Why are you going on and on about me! Aren't you Ryan's girlfriend! Shouldn't you be like beating me up or something!"

Erin stopped jumping about and arched her brow. "Girlfriend! Me and Ryan! As if! He's my cousin!" She said matter of factly.

"Cousin..." Gabriella asked faintly.

"Ya-huh!" Erin repleid brightly then skipped out of the room.

"Wow, you really are a genius!" Sharpay stated sarcastically then strut back to her room.

Gabriella slowly turned back toward Ryan, who gave her a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, she's my cousin and she was upset because her dad wants her to come home early."

"Oh..." Gabriella said, looking down at the floor.

"Hey...I was just wondering...if maybe sometime...you'd like to, maybe, go out with me. For like a smoothie or something." Ryan started hesitantly.

Gabriella glanced up at him and smirked slightly, pulled him in for another kiss.

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Gabriella spent the next few weeks blissfully unaware of her surroundings. She sat with Ryan and Sharpay at lunch and Ryan would drive her home after their practices had let out.

Erin convinced her dad to let her stay in New Mexico for another week and she and Gabriella became fast friends.

Sharpay and Troy were rumored to be together, though no one was truly certain.

And they spent many many months happily ever after...well for the time being, after all, they're only in high school!

_Well, what do you think...that's the end...let me know! Thank you for reading this story! And sorry about the cheesy ending..._


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